In just four weeks, the streets of our city will be filled with colour as enthusiastic women from every walk of life gather at the start line for the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon 2014. It is one of the most entertaining runs you can do and a brilliant event for beginners, walkers and runners alike. If you have signed up you may already be well on course but I am sure the very title of this article sent a nervous shiver down a spine or two! If this resonates with you fear not as you still have plenty of time to turn things around. With that in mind I thought I should share my top tips with you to help with your preparation for race day.
1. Training Plan
If you have been ad-hoc in your training to date don’t worry you still have plenty of time to get your body prepared for this 10K race. Although the Flora Mini Marathon page has a 14 week programme on their website you can still embark on a training plan to get you there if you start this week. Bear in mind that you don’t need to run the entire thing or even run at all. The important thing is to get through it a pace that is right for your body. If you are planning on running it I would suggest you mix easy runs with longer runs into your weekly sessions to build up both pace and stamina. Rest is also very important so make sure you factor that in to avoid injury and promote recovery between sessions. Remember as the saying goes – muscles are torn in the gym, fed in the kitchen and built in bed!
2. Clothes
New gym gear is often sufficient enough motivation to get us back into the swing of things and is one of the perks of signing up for a race like the mini marathon – oh the outfit options! New gear makes us feel good but a rookie error is going out and getting kitted up just before race day. If you are planning a new outfit for the big day number 1 on your To Do list this week should be trainers. You need to break them in and get used to running in them. Otherwise you may find yourself with 9k to go and blistered feet. It’s also no harm to take a couple of sessions in the full outfit so you can be sure everything works and nothing is making you feel uncomfortable and distracting you from the task at hand. Personally while I whole-heartedly agree with Charity and fundraising I dislike the charity T-shirts. They are great for branding and raising awareness but they are often too big and made of cotton. Cotton absorbs sweat and doesn’t quickly release it meaning it sits on your skin heavy and wet; it can cause chills and irritation both of which are not conducive to your end goal. If you are passionate about your charity and raising awareness wear it over your kit en route to the starting point and change back into it after you cross the finish line.
3. Diet
You may have heard the saying “You can’t out train a bad diet” and believe me it really is true. In the lead up to the mini marathon I would take it as an opportunity to review and perhaps overhaul your eating habits. As your training plan kicks in you need to provide your body with the best nutrition possible to fuel your sessions and promote recovery afterwards. Generally speaking we tend to eat more carbs than is required in our diet and often training brings about an increased craving for carb dense food. While I am not an advocate of cutting carbs completely from your diet, especially when training for endurance events, I do think becoming savvier about your carb intake will make a huge difference to your preparation and performance. Substitute white carbs with brown or wholegrain, substitute potatoes with sweet potatoes and substitute sugar with honey or agave syrup. This is a 10k run so there is no need to carb load, as you should not deplete your glycogen stores over this distance. Make sure you have a good yet familiar dinner the night before so there are no surprises or tummy upsets to disrupt your run. On race day you should eat a light breakfast a couple of hours before race time – a favourite for me is porridge with dried fruit pieces, cooked with coconut milk and topped with nuts and cinnamon. This is a powerful combo to set you off on the right track! If you are used to a large breakfast and are anxious about your energy levels a banana 30 minutes ahead of start time will help but there is no real need for gels, energy bars or energy drinks to get you through a 10k.
4. Hydration
This is an area that can cause all ends of problems for participants and especially those new to running. While many of us do not take on board enough water there are those that manage to overhydrate in enthusiasm, which can be just as bad for us, if not worse. I often get asked how much water a day should people drink which to me is like asking how long is a piece of string? In truth it really depends on the individual, personally I have never been a great one for drinking liters and liters of water but maintain an adequate level of hydration nonetheless. I worked with a guy once who told me he never went to bed until his urine ran clear and to me that’s a pretty good philosophy! The darker the urine the more dehydrated the individual so if you take on board enough water to maintain a clear stream then that is enough for you. Be mindful that on days where you are training your water intake will need to increase to replace fluids lost through sweat. Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, which means they further increase your loss of water, and so contribute massively to dehydration. It is best to avoid or limit these before and after training sessions and in the week ahead of the race itself. You should practice your water intake as part of your training sessions – gulping large amounts of water while running will lead to it sloshing about in your stomach and making you feel uncomfortable or even ill, if you must drink while completing the 10k take little sips at a time. It is possible however for some people to complete the 10k without stopping for water.
5. Enjoy it
This is my final and resounding point. Completing any race is a huge achievement whether you are a walker, jogger or runner and whether it is your first or twenty-first race. The Flora Mini Marathon is particularly good fun as far as races go with lots of entertainment along the way to keep you upbeat and energized. To me life is all about the journey and not the destination but all too often we fixate on our end point. Take a step back and soak up the experience and enjoy the event for what it is and make some memories. If it’s your first time doing the Flora Mini Marathon you are in for a real treat as you reach the final stretch, the Dublin Fire Brigade team at Donnybrook Station are great supporters and often offer a refreshing blast of water from the hose for you to run through… now if that’s not what memories are made of I give up!
*If you enjoyed this please go check out All The Buzz Magazine where I contribute an article on Health and Fitness each Month alongside many other talented contributors on all things beauty, health, business and lifestyle related. The above tips came from my article in the first edition in May 2014.